Authorities are advising Gainesville residents to stay alert after two women were attacked in separate assaults this past week.
Detectives with the Gainesville Police Department are investigating two individual attacks on women that occurred this past week, according to a UF public safety alert. In both incidents, the suspects got away, according to the alert.
On Feb. 10, at approximately 11:00 p.m., a woman walking in the 2500 block of Southwest 35th Place was attacked and dragged into the tree line by a man, the alert read. According to the alert, she was able to fight off the attacker and call for help.
Two days later, at around 7 a.m. Feb. 12, a woman was walking on the trail in Alfred Ring Park, located at 1801 NW 23rd Ave., when she was attacked and sexually battered by a man, according to the alert.
The man was last seen running toward Northwest 16th Ave., according to a Facebook post from GPD on Thursday.
The suspect in the first incident was described as between 6 feet and 6 feet 3 inches tall, a white male, between 20 and 30 years old, with brown/blond hair and a beard, according to the post. They were last seen wearing a dark hooded jacket with a dark cloth covering their face.
The suspect being sought for the second incident is described as a white male, between 30 and 40 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall with light-colored eyes, who was last seen wearing dark clothing, according to the post.
Similar to the description of the first suspect, according to the post, the second suspect is also described as wearing a dark cloth over their face.
GPD has not determined if the suspect is the same in both of these incidents, according to the post.
Major Brad Barber, a University Police spokesperson, said UPD will “continue to look at our overall community and continue our increased patrols.”
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact the Gainesville Police Department at 352-955-1818 or text keyword GPDFL plus your tip to 274637 (CRIMES).
Samia Lagmis contributed to this report.
Contact Alex DeLuca at adeluca@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @alexldeluca.
